


Travesty

by IreneClaire



Series: Various Notions Collection [21]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bromance, Drabble, Gen, Hurt Danny "Danno" Williams, Hurt Steve McGarrett, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-30 17:13:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12113403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IreneClaire/pseuds/IreneClaire
Summary: Word of the Day Self Challenge:  Travesty - a false or distorted representation of something, usually of something serious."You promised Charlie a swim tomorrow ... and as much as I hate the idea of you teaching him anything related to water ... or, really anything at all...," Danny recanted. "You'd better not disappoint my kid, Steven. Now wake the hell up, would'ja please?"





	Travesty

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

 

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O**

 

_**Word of the Day:** Travesty - a false or distorted representation of something, usually of something serious._

 

Wrapping his fingers in the material of Steve's t-shirt, Danny physically hauled Steve's upper body off the ground. He paused as Steve's head lolled listlessly on his neck, screwed his eyes closed and then his muscles bunched as he readied himself for the strain of what he was about to do next.

"Wake up you two-ton excuse for ...," Danny grunted, his breath literally pushed out of his lungs as he heaved Steve's lanky frame over his shoulders, his legs shaking as he staggered almost upright, his partner in a fireman's carry.

In order to save his breath, he didn't dare say anything else at that point. Keeping his head down, Danny focused on putting one foot in front of the other. He grunted and cursed inside his head. Danny was strong, but Steve was easily a full head taller and damnably heavy. Changing his mental curses to a mindless chant, Danny forged on. He knew how to do this; hell, he'd done it before. A thousand times. But not quite under these circumstances and certainly not with a bum knee. And never ... just never ... with his best friend slung helplessly over his back.

Danny stumbled on for as long as he could, which was distressingly not very far at all. With his back screaming in pain and his legs wobbling badly, he had to stop. He let Steve down slowly cushioning him as best as possible, ignoring the way his muscles quivered under the strain. Holding him all the way down. His hands behind Steve's head and neck, controlling every move as he laid him on the ground under a tree.

"At least it was your truck this time," Danny muttered breathlessly as he fell to his knees next to Steve's side. Far off in the distance, he could hear the occasional pop of gunfire. The boom of Chin's blessed shotgun. One-handed, he shoved Steve's P266 more firmly down the back of his jeans. His smaller P30 was in his hands again as he huddled on the ground, covering Steve's upper body with his own. He panted heavily, trying to breathe, his lungs straining as badly as his legs and his back.

"God dammit," he pushed out tiredly as he swiped sweat off his face. Things couldn't be worse. Separated from the rest of his team, Danny checked his clip. Between his weapon and Steve's he had six bullets left. Unexpectedly ambushed at what should have been a straight forward meet and greet with one of their regular snitches, they'd been setup instead. If their man wasn't dead already, Danny was planning his own brand of comeuppance.

"Sorry, babe," Danny muttered as Steve unconsciously flinched away from him. Steve was injured. Bleeding from two bullet wounds. Half listening for trouble, Danny stripped himself of his button-down shirt. He then ripped each sleeve off using his teeth before shrugging back into it and letting it hang open, un-buttoned down to his waist. He did his best to tend the first wound on Steve's head with one piece of material. With the other, he tightly wrapped the through and through on Steve's upper arm. He couldn't completely stop the bleeding, but once he was done, it felt better than having done nothing at all.

"Steve?" Danny softly asked. He gently tapped Steve's cheek before using that as an excuse to drape his fingers loosely over Steve's neck, aware of the steady thrum of his pulse and the volume of feverish heat brought on by stress. Through everything, Steve remained dead to the world and Danny cursed softly under his breath.

"You promised Charlie a swim tomorrow ... and as much as I hate the idea of you teaching him anything related to water ... or, really anything at all...," Danny recanted. "You'd better not disappoint my kid, Steven. Now wake the hell up, would'ja please?"

Danny scrubbed heavily at his face when Steve didn't budge a single inch. He was tempted to re-join the fray and yet, he hesitated. He could hope that he'd found a safe enough place to keep Steve hidden until HPD arrived. On one hand, he intended to stay with Steve, but the rest of his team likely needed him too and Danny waffled in indecision. He and Steve were separated from the main fighting and he wasn't entirely certain which way to safely circle back round. He didn't have a headcount on their attackers either. And at that very second, he felt as if a thousand eyes were on him and in response, Danny sunk lower into the earth, looking, searching.

He could walk into the midst of a gunfight or worse yet, leave Steve wide open for attack. Alone. Vulnerable. This faction of the cartel was out to prove a point. They wanted to count coup on law enforcement. They would take lives and then brag about it for days. Danny wasn't about to let Steve, himself - or anyone on his team for that matter - be used as that kind of collateral.

"Report," Danny whispered into his comm link. "Everybody okay? Anybody have eyes?"

His own eyes were keen as he tried to see through the underbrush and beyond the pineapple grove. But he couldn't see a damned thing. The sounds of gunfire were still relatively distant with an occasional spate much closer to his ten o'clock position. No one was there and yet he felt as if he was being watched.

 _"Northside,"_ came Chin's eventual reply. _"Lou's on my six; Kono ... she's ... ah ..."_

 _"Aloft ... like an eagle,"_ Kono interrupted, her tone actually sarcastic and Danny had to grin, knowing she was in one of the grove's water towers taking pot shots. _"You? Steve?"_

"Maybe south, southeast," Danny said, his voice tight with stress. "Truck's dead ... Steve's down. Sitting blind."

 _"Shit,"_ Lou whispered harshly though the airwaves. _"How bad? Can you move?"_

"Bad enough," Danny replied. He glanced worriedly down at Steve and considered throwing him over his shoulder to get deeper into the tree line and then changed his mind. Blood was already seeping through his poor attempts at bandaging both wounds. His friend was out for the foreseeable future. That plain fact made his mind up for him: Danny didn't dare leave Steve's side. Even with two weapons, he was low on clips. He needed help to come to them.

"And no," he admitted. "We're good here ... at least in the short term. Listen. HPD is less than five out. Need an ambulance ... but need cover first."

 _"Copy that,"_ Chin said abruptly. Danny nodded as their short conversation was cut, knowing that Chin would find him first. He rocked back on his heels, focused for a moment on Steve.

"Steve?" Danny whispered, bending down closer when he thought he heard a low moan. He waited and then breathed easier when Steve's hand twitched and his eyes partly opened.

"There you are," he whispered with a relieved smile. "How're you doing, huh?"

 _"H'ppn'd?"_ Steve pushed out, wincing through a slow blink of his eyes. He raised his hand towards his face and then let it drop back down to the ground. _"M'head?"_

"Yeah. I bet you've got one helluva headache," Danny replied. "Just take it easy, okay?" He chuffed a half-amused sound as Steve stirred more, his heels briefly scotching in the dirt. With a shake of his head, Danny firmly planted his hand on Steve's chest to keep him in place. "Uh, yeah. No, Steve. Sit. Stay, buddy. Back-ups on the way."

 _"Bk-up?"_ Steve made a pained sound deep in his throat, his eyes threatening to close again. _"Not m'fault_?" He wheezed out, peering hazily through his lashes up into Danny's face.

Danny sniffed back a laugh. "Actually? If you can believe it ... for the first time in recorded history, no. It's not your fault at all," he replied wryly. "In fact, I can't believe I'm even admitting that out loud. We got setup ... royally."

 _"W'rting,_ " Steve slurred softly while tapping weakly at Danny's hand. _"W'nt that in w'rting, D'nno."_

"If we get the hell out of here in one piece, you can have whatever you want ... in triplicate. Notarized even," Danny said just as a noise had him whirling around on his knees, his gun pointed high, his body between Steve and what he thought he heard. A subtle inhale of breath. The smallest of twigs snapping under a heel. Danny narrowed his eyes, wary, listening harder.

"Chin?" Danny cautiously called out, grimacing when a strange, sharp laugh reached his ears.

"Hello pig," a nasty voice breathed out. "Not quite."

Danny leaned further over the upper half of Steve's body, his gun aimed in the direction of the voice. "Shit, where is he?" Danny whispered under his breath when he failed at finding its source, his hand still protectively splayed across Steve's chest.

"N'uh uh, cop ... drop it," the voice demanded at the same time the skulking hulk of a man appeared from a shadowy tangle of trees and vines. He chuckled in amusement. "Awww? Isn't this sweet? You two having a picnic ... some quiet time together?"

There was a quick shift though and the man's leering tone changed on a dime to something darker, more dangerous. "Put your damned gun down. Do it. Now." He all but snarled the words, his intentions clear even as Danny pushed his gun to the side just out of his reach.

"You don't want to kill two cops," Danny said, stalling for time. He clutched at Steve's shirt desperately when he felt his partner weakly stiffen as if readying to do something. In response, Danny pushed firmly downwards. ' _Nonononono_.' Danny cringed silently, begging Steve not to make a drastic mistake.

"Don't I?" The cartel lackey chuckled, his eyes sparkling mockingly. "It's what I'm here for, isn't it? Killing cops ... not doing my job the right way would be a real travesty now, wouldn't it?"

"Travesty?" Danny snorted through his nose, all the while cognizant of Steve's muscular tremors. "Big word for the likes of you."

"So, I read a lot," the man retorted, teeth gritted in anger as Danny mouthed off at him again. "You got a problem with that?"

"What are you?" Danny snarked back without thinking. "The king of rhetorical questions?"

The man gaped at him for a moment before bursting out with a sharp, sardonic laugh. "Funny man, aren't you?"

"Point made," Danny spat back defensively. He couldn't stretch this out forever though and he had nothing at his disposal. Not a damned thing until he felt Steve's fingers fumbling across his hip. With no clear way to communicate, Danny gently tugged on Steve's shirt again in askance. He was worried, counting the seconds now until each of them met a gruesome end. Danny tightened his grip on Steve's shirt all the while watching their attacker who was on a sat phone to other members of his team, crowing with delight at his find.

"Knock it _off_ ," Danny hissed out quietly. He pushed downwards again, but this time Steve grunted in annoyance and pushed back harder. His fingernails dug sharply into Danny's thigh hard enough to make him wince.

 _What the hell was Steve doing?_ They still had a chance, slim as it was if Chin could just reach them in time ... unless ... and Danny realized what his partner was trying to do.

The gun. _Of course._

Steve's gun was rocked firmly between his waist and his jeans, completely out of view. Using their attacker's position as excuse, Danny stayed on his knees and twisted around a bit more, giving Steve easier access to get to his gun. It was technically within Steve's reach ... at least, if not for his partner's current physical state and Danny held his breath. Time stood still as Steve's fingers trembled and slipped off the gun's grip. He couldn't find the reach nor the traction to actually wrap his fingers around it though.

 _'Come on, come on,'_ Danny chanted inside his head as he tried to increase his subtle twist. Time was running out. He didn't like the plan, but what choice did either of them have? Danny heard a soft groan and then a discordant panted breath of air. Steve's upper body shifted painfully upwards, his fingers crept closer, trembling. Awkwardly fighting the material of Danny's jeans as he tried to wrap his hand around the gun's grip.

And then he had it and Danny was moving even as Steve rasped out a desperate command.

"D-down!" Steve stammered out hoarsely as Danny felt that final yank on the P266. He did as he was told while Steve swung his weapon upwards, lunging sideways over Steve's body, still insistent on providing some sort of cover over his downed partner.

Steve's gun went off near his ear at the same time he heard Chin's shotgun blast and a third from their attacker's weapon. He would have shouted for joy, but Steve's body suddenly quaked under him before going lax.

"S-Steve?" Alarmed, Danny tried to get his arms to work. He tried to push himself up as he heard a loud pop in tandem with Chin's warning shout. Instead, Danny wound up grunting in pain as something burned a track along the side of his head, down towards his ear. He wavered for a moment and then pitched forward. Stunned into blackness, Danny went down hard and stayed that way, sprawled on his stomach across Steve's motionless body.

 

**H5O* H5O**

 

It was the voices he heard first. Their steady hum of life that pulled him out of that pitch-darkness faster than he might have otherwise woken on his own. With it came not only pain, but the very last thing he could remember.

_The gun. Steve practically crawling up his body to take one desperate shot, then an elbow in his back as Steve fired his weapon. Steve ... collapsing._

"Where's he?" Danny half groaned and half slurred when he finally peeled his eyes partly open to the brightness of a hospital emergency room. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment against the harsh blur just as Kono hurried to his side. Then he was trying again, blinking furiously against the light.

"Steve. Where's he at?"

"Across the hall," Kono replied, her eyes communicating her own surprise that he was awake and then trying to get up. "Whoa! Whoa ... Danny! Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

Instead of answering her, Danny grappled for her arm, using it as an anchor to pull himself into a seated position. The EMTs had cared for his head wound, but he was still a bloody mess. It was obvious that he hadn't been properly seen yet by any attending doctor in the busy ER. Traces of blood still smeared his cheek and more had dripped onto his shoulder and then onto his chest. His tattered shirt hung open, hanging uselessly around his waist and he couldn't have cared less. With no recourse but to help, Kono got Danny to his feet and then used her body to brace his weight.

"Danny ...," she tried to object. "You should be taking it easy, _brah_. You both literally just got here ... they're still checking Steve out. You're supposed to see the next doctor and go in for a CAT scan ... _Danny_!"

Nearly blinded by the roar in his head and the spots dancing before his eyes, Danny tugged Kono along, his intentions clear despite not saying another word.

_He needed to see Steve. No apologies were to be given. He needed to know ... he needed to be sure._

He moved the privacy curtain aside, squinting painfully as he tried to absorb the controlled chaos taking place around his partner's body. Almost too methodically Danny ticked off what he was seeing. Oxygen mask. Okay, that was par for the course. Blood pressure cuff. Standard practice; Danny could understand that, too. Along with the requisite intravenous line for basic fluids. But Steve was far from quiet now. His voice might have been muffled by the oxygen mask, but he was apparently becoming a challenge to his caregivers.

"Sir, you need to calm down," Danny heard one of the nurses insist. "Sir, _please_! Once we know, we'll share the information with you."

Danny moved closer then, pulling Kono along with him. Steve legs moved restlessly on the gurney and Danny clearly heard another annoyed growl emanate from his partner's lips. Standing just off to the side, Danny saw that his makeshift, shirt-sleeve bandages were gone for want of better, more pristine proper bandages. At least, the deep crease along Steve's hairline had already been cleaned and was being re-dressed.

The wound in his arm was being studied, investigated, and peered at with interest though by the attending physician and Danny sidled even closer.

"How's he doing?" Danny demanded to know. "Is he all right?"

"Stable. We're going to have to flush this wound out ... liberally ... before ...," the doctor murmured as he concentrated on Steve's arm, glancing up distractedly before doing a double-take when he realized whom he was actually speaking to. Then, his expression changed to one of shock as he came eye to eye with Danny.

"Detective! What in God's name are you doing on your feet?!"

"My partner," Danny repeated stubbornly, ignoring the man's short tirade entirely. "How is he?"

"Funny," the doctor stated as he glanced down towards Steve, his hand firmly anchored to his patient's chest. "He's been demanding to know the very same thing about you."

"What?" Danny stupidly murmured. He blinked and then wobbled in place, leaning more heavily than he intended to on Kono's shoulder. He looked at the doctor and then down to Steve, stunned to see two dark hazel eyes blearily looking back at him.

"Steven?"

"Danny," Steve breathed out, his tone one of abject relief. "Thought you'd died." His legs quieted at the same time he gave in to the doctor and the nurses. However, his eyes flickered over Danny's face, taking in the stained dressing along his scalp. Then the blood stains marring his cheek, his chest, followed by the ruined state of his dress shirt and he frowned in confusion.

"You look like shit, Danno. Can't take you anywhere, can I?"

Danny shook his head despite the way it made his stomach roil and the room shift off its keel. For a long long moment, he didn't know what to say as he stared down at his partner. He didn't know what to say because he was thinking the very same thing which Steve had just voiced. Danny had thought the worst. The moment in which Steve had collapsed, Danny had thought he'd died, too.

"Danny?" Steve was staring at him harder now. Evidently worried that he'd not said another word since dragging himself across the breadth of the emergency room. "You okay? Maybe you should go sit down now, huh? Let the doc take a look at you, okay?"

"I will, if you will," Danny whispered back, placated when Steve nodded in agreement. Their eyes met and held, allowing Danny to draw in a deeper, more settling lungful of air. "And don't forget. You ... you uh, promised Charlie. You promised to take him swimming, Steven."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Danno," Steve said, his eyes briefly brightening and his smile obvious despite the obstruction of the oxygen mask. He paused and then grinned more. "That would be a travesty now, wouldn't it? Not taking Charlie ... not keeping my promise."

Danny raised an eyebrow, his lips suddenly quirking upwards into a smile of his own. He snorted, and then tried not to laugh because he knew it would make his head pound harder than it already was. But in the end, as Kono piloted him back towards his own exam area, he did anyway.

_**~ End. ~** _


End file.
